WO R 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



WOR 



813 



and August. Native of Virginia and Carolina, in swamps 

 and shady woods. 



5. Woodwardia Thelypterioides ; Small Woodwardia. Frond 

 pinnate; leaflets sessile, linear-lanceolate, pinnatifid, villous 

 at the base; segments of the barren ones oblong and blunt- 

 ish~, of the fertile ones shortened, triangular, and acute, all 

 entire; stalk downy, angular. This resembles the preced- 

 ing species, but is not half so large. Found in the sandy 

 swamps of South Carolina, near Charlestown. 



6. Woodwardia Fimbriata ; Fringed Woodwardia. Frond 

 pinnate; leaflets sessile, deeply pinnatifid, with spreading 

 rather acute lobes, fringed with sharp teeth. This, which 

 is larger than the fourth species, is distinguished from it by 

 its more acute segments, the margin of which is very con- 

 spicuously and copiously fringed with prickly teeth, directed 

 towards the point ; groups of capsules, large and turgid, 

 ranged a little obliquely along the ribs of the segments, fro-m 

 three to five pairs on each segment, none at the midrib of the 

 leaflet itself; involucrum strongly and permanently vaulted. 

 Found on the west coast of North America. 



7. Woodwardia Radicans ; Rooting -stalked Woodwardia. 

 Frond pinnate; leaflets nearly sessile, deeply pinnatifid, with 

 parallel taper-pointed sharply serrated lobes. The fronds 

 are two or three feet high, and a foot and half or nearly two 

 feet in breadth, of a fine green, smooth, beautifully reticu- 

 lated with veins ; each main stalk producing at the back, near 

 the top, a round scaly bud or bulb, the origin of a young 

 plant. The leaflets are generally alternate, often a span 

 long, somewhat pectinate, with a long very slender point; 

 their numerous segments more or less crowded; groups of 

 capsules (none at the midrib of the leaflet,) about seven pairs 

 on each segment, close, direct, scarcely ever at all divari- 

 cated, turgid, pale brown, the cavities in which they lie very 

 nearly and conspicuously bordered. This is a hardy green- 

 house plant in our climate, and one of the handsomest of 

 the genus. Native of the deep clayey fissures of rocks in 

 Madeira; and found also in Italy and Portugal. 



8. Woodwardia Dispar; Various-leaved Woodwardia. 

 Fronds pinnate; leaflets sessile, lanceolate, pointed, pinna- 

 tifid, with elliptic-lanceolate, entire lobes ; fructification 

 crowded on the much smaller lobes, of a separate narrower 

 frond. The barren fronds approach the last species in size, 

 but their segments are shorter, entire, rather obtuse, and by 

 no means taper-pointed. Those fronds which bear fruit have 

 leaflets similar in shape and lobes to the others, but only one- 

 third the size, bearitisr a simple row of fructification close to 

 the rib of each segment. Found in the island of Martinico. 



Wood Waxen. See Genista. 



Woody Nightshade. See Solanum. 



Worm Grass. See Spigelia. 



Wormia ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Pentagy- 

 nia. GEXEIUC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth inferior, of 

 five roundish, concave, very obtuse, coriaceous, permanent 

 leaves. Corolla: petals five, roundish, concave, larger than 

 the calix, tapering at the base, deciduous. Stamina: fila- 

 menta very numerous, crowded, short, equal ; antherse ter- 

 minal, linear, longer than the filamenta, shorter than the 

 petals, recurved, bursting by a double orifice at the summit. 

 Pistil : germina five or more, superior, distinct, ovate, com- 

 pressed, crowded; styles terminal, tapering, recurved, longer 

 than the germina; stigmas notched. Pericarp: capsules as 

 many as the germina, and of the same form, each of one cell, 

 and one valve, bursting at the inner edge, crowned with one 

 of the permanent styles. Seeds : several, from eight to twelve, 

 'oundish, each with a pulpy tunic at the base. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: inferior, of five coriaceous permanent 



leaves. Petals: five. Antherte : with two terminal pores. 

 Capsules: five, compressed, distinct, many-seeded. Styles: 

 thread-shaped. Stigmas : notched. This genus consists of 

 trees or shrubs, with rather twining stems, and round smooth 

 branches. The species are, 



1. Wormia Madagascariensis; Madagascar Wormia. Leaves 

 oval, bluntly sinuated ; clusters panicled ; footstalks long, 

 channelled above, and marked with transverse wrinkles; 

 rlowerstalks nearly opposite to the leaves, erect; partial- 

 stalks single-flowered, without bractes ; petals undulated, 

 thrice as long as the calix; seeds roundish; stipules solitary, 

 large, long, leafy, externally villous, deciduous, each leaving 

 an annular scar on the branch. This is an elegant tree, with 

 thick round branches. Native of Madagascar. 



2. Wormia Dentata ; Toothed Wormia. Leaves orate, 

 abrupt, coarsely and rather sharply toothed, four inches long, 

 of a broad, elliptic-ovate figure, coriaceous, paler beneath, 

 entire at the base, wavy at the sides, most toothed at the 

 end ; transverse ribs very straight ; footstalks simple, trian- 

 gular, smooth ; flowerstalks triangular, from three to six 

 flowered ; cluster simple, not quite opposite to the upper- 

 most leaf. A tree with round branches. Native of Ceylon. 



3. Wormia Triquetra ; Triangular Wormia. Leaves ovate, 

 bluntish, bluntly and slightly sinuated, rather fapering at the 

 base ; the ribs pinnate, having about eight or ten lateral 

 ribs at each side; footstalks simple, triangular, straight, two 

 inches long; flowerstalks triangular, racemose, simple, nearly 

 opposite to the leaves ; two outer calix-leaves rather the 

 largest; petals concave; stamina very short; germina trian- 

 gular, crowded ; styles reflexed. Branches round, brown, 

 and smooth, with an elevated ring round the origin of each 

 leaf. Native of Ceylon. 



4. Wormia Alata; Wing-stalked Wormia. Leaves oval, 

 entire, three or four inches long, and above half as broad, 

 smooth, obtuse, with distant transverse ribs, and copious 

 reticulated veins, their under surface rusty-coloured, but 

 polished; footstalks smooth, winged, an inch or an inch and 

 half long; flowerstalk opposite to the upper leaf of the 

 branch, solitary, racemose, triangular, smooth, shorter than 

 the leaves, bearing two or three yellow flowers ; petals undu- 

 lated ; antheree long, linear, with two pores at the end ; 

 styles sometimes nine or ten, recurved; capsules coriaceous, 

 gaping, with a number of round seeds, inserted into the mar- 

 gins. Branches round, smooth, except the annular scars 

 left by the stipules. Native of New Holland. 



5. Wormia Sericea ; Silky-stalked Wormia. Leaves oval, 

 bluntly serrated, crowded about the extremity of each branch, 

 apparently deciduous, being found on young shoots only, 

 shaped like those of the last species, and nearly as large, 

 but somewhat serrated, and while young downy ; footstalks 

 depressed, silky as well as the flowerstalks and calix ; they 

 are half an inch long, stout, broad, and depressed, blunt- 

 edged, not bordered; stalks simple, single-flowered, silky, 

 about the length of the footstalks, each opposite to a leaf; 

 calix-leaves obovate, concave, an inch long, smooth within, 

 silky at the back ; filamenta short ; antherse long, compressed, 

 two-edged, each opening by two terminal orifices; germina 

 crowded together ; styles five, recurved at the extremity ; 

 stigmas small, abrupt. Branches round, and strongly scar- 

 red. Native of the East Indies. 



6. Wormia Retusa; Abrupt Wormia. Leaves obovate, 

 abrupt, distantly toothed, smooth ; footstalks hairy at the 

 base; stalks single-flowered, smooth ; styles five. This tree 

 appears to be nearly related to the second species, but the 

 flowers are solitary and smaller, eachion a simple stalk, op- 

 posite to the uppermost leaf. Native of Ceylon. 



